Placentia's The Bruery offers three of the most famous beer clubs around. One, the Preservation Society, charges $60 per quarter for three special release beers of differing styles. The next tier up Reserve Society (which occasionally opens spots to the public in the fall), costs $295 to join for the year, and returns discounts and varying numbers of very limited Bruery releases and swag. For the most devoted, there's the secretive, very expensive and invite-only Hoarders Club, offering only the rarest beers to its members.

FiftyFifty Brewing is known for their barrel-aged beers, and those outside of Truckee can join their Brewers' Intent club program to get their hands on them. Members pay $175 annually in October for six specialty and mostly undistributed sour and bourbon barrel-aged beers, of which one will be a highly sought after variant from their Eclipse series. Also included are growlers, brewery merch and a 10 percent discount on onsite purchases.

Modern Times' excellently-titled League of Partygoers & Elegant People membership program is a beer fan favorite. It's not the easiest to join — the $350 signup is only accessible in December — but once established with the San Diego brewery, members get 10 "extremely rare" barrel-aged beers, brewery swag, growler fills and tickets to a welcome party.

Oxnard's Casa Agria Specialty Ales' Membership Club distributes 11 large-format bottles (two bottles of five different blends and one specialty ale) of their wild, farmhouse and barrel-aged brews per year to members. The cost — $300 — doesn't include shipping, but it does include a sleek insulated growler, onsite discounts and first crack at new bottles for sale to the public.

San Luis Obispo's Libertine Brewing's Bottle Club offers two tiers for fans who love sour and wild ales: Platinum, which costs $110 per quarter for six bottles and five 32-ounce growler fills at their Central Coast taproom; or Gold, which costs $60 per quarter for three bottles and three 32-ounce growler fills. Both memberships also include a solid discount on other purchases.

Alyssa Pereira is a pop culture and beer reporter at SFGate and The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: apereira@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @alyspereira